Can-opener.



.D. P. BAUBLITS.

CAN OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10, 1910.

Patnte'd May 16, 1911.

Arm/airs UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DON I. IBA'UBLITS, 0F GRAHAM, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF- TWENTY ONE-HUNDBEDTHS TO WILLIAM E. JOHNSTON, TWENTY ONE-HUNDREDTHS TO JACOB ECKLES, TWENTY ONE-HUNDREDTI-IS TO JOHN I. JOHNSTON, AND TWENTY ONE-HUNDREDTI-IS TO CLYDE O. TRAPI, ALL OF GRAHAM, MISSOURI.

CAN-OPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented llay 16, 1911.

Application filed August 10, 1910. Serial No. 576,485.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Don P. BAUBLITS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Graham, in the county of Nodaway and State of Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Gan-Opener, of which the follow-' ing is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to openers for cans and other similar kinds of receptacles, and has reference more particularly to a device of this class, which has a frame presenting a fulcrum point, a cutter carrier mounted upon the frame, and a rolling cutter mounted upon the carrier and serving to sever the material of the can or other receptacle.

The invent-ion also relates to a can opener of the character specified above, in which the cutter carrier is provided with a fixed cutter blade in addition to the rolling cutter.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple, strong and durable can opener, by

means of which tin cans and other receptacles can rapidly and evenly be opened, without danger of injury to the hands, which can be adjusted to adapt it for use with cans of different sizes, and by means of which the tin or other material of the receptacle can be severed evenly and without leaving jagged edges.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts to be more fully described hereinafter and particularly set forth in the claims. I a

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of my invention, showing the same in operation when being used to open a round top can; Fig. 2 is a similar view of the opener, showing the same when used to open a different kind of can; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device, showing the same being used to remove a bottle cap; Fig. 1 is an enlarged, transverse section of the opener; and Fig. 5 is a similar view on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Before proceeding to a more detailed explanation, it should be clearly understood that While the device is particularly useful in opening tin cans by cutting away the tops, or portions thereof, in the usual manner in which a can opener is employed, the device can also he used for opening other receptacles of a similar nature. At the same time, it can be used as a bottle cap remover, to displace from the mouths of bottles, the crimped tin caps now largely employed as bottle closures. No particular adjustment of the parts is necessary to adapt it for the last-mentioned purpose.

Certain of the details of construction, shown for example herewith, form no part of the invention, and can be varied in accordance with individual preference and special conditions, without departing from the underlying spirit of the invention.

Referring more particularly to the draw ings, I employ a frame or body 10, fashioned from an elongated member such as a stiff wire bent into U-shape, so that it comprises spaced frame bars or arms 11 and 12. The arm 11 has at the free end a point 13 doubly oflsetand sharpened. The arm 12 is shorter than the arm 11 and terminates rearwardly of the point 13. When the device is used as a bottle cap remover, the point 13 which constitutes the fulcrum of the device is placed upon the top of the cap and the free end of the arm 12 engages under the edge of the cap. By pulling upwardly upon the frame, leverage is applied under the edge of the cap, which can thus be easily removed from the bottle as is indicated in Fig. 3.

I employ a cutter carrier 14, consisting of an elongated plate having near the ends,

openings 15 and 16, which receive'respectively, the frame arms 11 and 12, so thatthe carrier is slidably and adjustably mounted upon the frame, and is movable in the direction of the length of the latter. The arms tend normally to spring apart slightly, to a width greater than the distance between the openings 15 and 16, so that the carrier is resiliently held in position relative to the arms. In adjusting the device, the carrier can be easily moved along the frame by first pressing the free ends of the arms slightly toward each other to release the spring tension. A fixed cutter blade 17 is rigidly associated with the carrier and is preferably formed integral therewith. The blade is disposed in a plane at substantially right angles to the plane of the carrier and is normally parallel to the frame arms. It has the free end pointed, so that it can be easily forced through the tin of a can top. When this blade is used to open a can, the end of the arm 11 rests upon the can top at a bend connecting the arm and the offset point, as is shown in Fig. 2. By pulling upwardly upon the opposite end of the frame the blade is caused to cut through the metal. After the cut is formed the opener is advanced and the frame is again raised. By repeating this operation the can top can be readily severed, as is shown in Fig. 2.

At the side opposite to the blade 17, the carrier has a shear extension 18, which is pointed and doubly curved, and forming between it and the edge of the carriers a tapered slot. The carrier has a substantially central opening 19, in which is located a sleeve 20 having at one end a laterally extended flange 21. A rolling cutter 22, having a beveled cutting edge, is loosely mount ed upon the sleeve 20. A pivot screw 23 extends through the sleeve 20, having the head 24 engaging at the flanged ends of the sleeve, and held in place by a retaining nut 25. The shear extension 18 has the inner edge 26 sharpened so that it serves to cooperate with the rolling cutter to sever the tin or other receptacle material. This cutter is preferably used with round top cans, as is indicated in Fig. 1. The point 13 is forced through the metal of the can top and the shear extension is pressed through the can top near the edge thereof, the cutter carrier having been first adjusted to the size of the can. By swinging the frame about the fulcrum point, the material of the can top, which passes between the shear extensionl and the rolling cutter is rapidly severed along a circular line.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a device of the class described, a frame comprising a pair of spaced bars, one of said bars having an offset fulcrum point, a plate constituting a cutter carrier and having openings slidably receiving said bars, said bars tending normally to spring apart, said carrier having a further opening, a flanged sleeve mounted in said opening, a rolling cutter journaled upon said sleeve, and a retaining screw passing through said sleeve and holding the same in position relative to said carrier, said carrier having a shear extension provided with a sharpened edge and located adjacent to said cutter.

2. In a device of the class described, a frame comprising a pair of spaced bars, one of said bars having an offset fulcrum point, a cutter carrier having openings slidably receiving said bars, said bars tending normally to spring apart, said carrier having a further opening, a flanged sleeve mounted in said opening, a rolling cutter journaled upon said sleeve, and a retaining screw passing through said sleeve and holding the same in position relative tosaid carrier, said carrier having a shear extension provided with a sharpened edge and located adjacent to said cutter, said bars being of unequal length.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DON P. BAUBLITS.

Witnesses:

J. A. KAVANAUGH, W. E. FREYTAG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

